Cloverfield
Cloverfield is a 2008 American science fiction found footage monster film directed by Matt Reeves, produced by J. J. Abrams & Bryan Burk, and written by Drew Goddard. Before settling on an official title, the film was marketed as 1-18-08. The film follows six young New Yorkers attending a going-away party on the night that a gigantic monster attacks the city. First publicized in a teaser trailer in screenings of Transformers, the film was released on January 17 in New Zealand, Russia and Australia; January 18 in North America; January 24 in South Korea; January 25 in Taiwan; January 31 in Germany; and February 1 in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Italy. In Japan, the film was released on April 5. VFX and CGI were produced by effects studios Double Negative and Tippett Studio. RiffTrax released their riff in April 2008. Synopsis and Preview ' Begin' The film is presented as found footage from a personal video camera recovered by the United States Department of Defense. A disclaimer text states that the footage is of a case designated "Cloverfield" and was found in area US447 "formerly known as Central Park". The video consists primarily of segments taped the night of Friday, May 22, 2009. Occasionally, older segments are shown from a previous video that was mostly taped over. The footage was later transferred to an SD Card and titles were added by the United States Department of Defense. Of the latter type is the first video segment, which shows Beth waking up on the morning of Monday, April 27 having slept with Rob, a previously platonic friend, who is filming her. They make plans to go to Coney Island that day. The footage cuts to Friday, May 22 when Rob's brother Jason and his girlfriend Lily prepare a farewell party for Rob, who will be moving to Japan. Their friend Hud uses the camera to film testimonials during the party. After Beth has a discussion with Rob and leaves the party, an apparent earthquake strikes, and the city suffers a brief power outage. The local news reports an oil tanker capsized near Liberty Island. When the party-goers leave the building, they see the heavily damaged head of the Statue of Liberty hurled into the street. Hud records what appears to be a large creature several blocks away. The monster causes the Woolworth Building to collapse. Later, during the evacuation of the city, a gigantic tail destroys the Brooklyn Bridge, also killing Jason. News reports show the Army National Guard's 42nd Infantry Division attacking the monster, and smaller "parasite" creatures falling off its body and attacking nearby people. Rob listens to a phone message from Beth saying she is trapped in her apartment and unable to move. Going against the crowd, Rob, Hud, Lily, and Marlena (another party guest) venture to Midtown Manhattan to rescue Beth. They get caught in a fight between the monster and the army, and run into the Spring Street station, where they get attacked by several of the "parasite" creatures inside the subway tunnel, and Marlena is bitten. They enter the 59th Street station, where they exit the subway. They come across a command center and field hospital, where Marlena dies from the bite. One of the military leaders tells the group when the last evacuation helicopter will depart before the military executes its "Hammer Down Protocol", which will destroy Manhattan. The group rescues Beth, who was impaled on an exposed rebar. The four make their way to the evacuation site, where they encounter the monster once more over Grand Central Terminal. Lily is raced into a departing Marine Corps helicopter and escapes. Moments later, Rob, Beth, and Hud are taken away in a second helicopter and witness a U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit bomb the monster. The monster falls, then lunges at the protagonists' helicopter, causing it to crash into Central Park. The film skips to Saturday, May 23 (less than an hour later), with a voice on the crashed helicopter's radio warning that the Hammer Down protocol will begin in 15 minutes. The three friends regain consciousness and flee the helicopter, but the creature appears and bites Hud, killing him. Rob and Beth grab the camera and take shelter under Greyshot Arch in Central Park as air raid sirens begin to blare and bombing starts. Rob and Beth take turns leaving their last testimony of the events. The bridge crumbles and the camera gets knocked out of Rob's hand, getting buried beneath some rubble.6 As the air raid approaches, Rob and Beth each proclaim their love for each other just before another bomb goes off, at which point they're heard screaming, causing the video to freeze. The film then cuts to the footage of Rob and Beth's Coney Island date on April 27. In the distance, unnoticed by them, something falls from the sky into the ocean. Rob faces the camera towards him and Beth, and then zooms in on Beth's who says "I had a good day." Then the tape freezes and cuts out. End Cast and Crew *Michael Stahl-David as Rob Hawkins *T. J. Miller as Hud Platt *Odette Yustman as Beth MacIntyre *Jessica Lucas as Lily Ford *Lizzy Caplan as Marlena Diamond *Mike Vogel as Jason Hawkins *Ben Feldman as Travis *Billy Brown as Staff Sgt. Pryce Quotes Notes See Also *Jurassic Park *Beowulf *I Am Legend *The Sixth Sense External Links *Cloverfield on RiffTrax *Cloverfield on Amazon Category:Cloverfield Category:RiffTrax Category:Official RiffTrax Category:RiffTrax in 2008